Improvement in harvesters



M. G. HUBBARD.

`Harvester Gearing.

Patented May 12, 1857.

ATFNT OFFicF.

M. G. HUBBARD, OF PENN YAN, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN HARVESTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 1*?,2S0, dated May 12,1857.

To LZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Mosns G. HUBBARD, of Penn Yan, in the county ofYates and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Harvesters; and I do hereby declare and ascertain saidimprovement as follows, reference being had to the accompanying drawingsthereof, in which- Figure l is a side elevation of that part of themachine referred to in the description. Fig. 2 is a plan of the same;Fig. 3, the fork and shifting-crank detached.

My improvement herein described consists of a new device for shiftingthe gear of harvesters.

In going to and returning from the field, and often under othercircumstances, it is desirable that the machine should be thrown out ofgear, so as not to subject the cutting apparatus to unnecessary wear,&c. Various devices have been invented for this purpose; but none ofthem seem to combine all of the necessary elements of convenience,economy, ample Wearing-surface, and perfect reliability. As it is oftendesirable to throw the machine out of gear instantly, in order to avoidobstacles, and as each part o f these machines must be constructed ascheaply as possible, and with a View to great durability, and as it isall important that the gear-shifter should be perfectly reliable, so asnot to drop out of gear while at work, I have endeavored to combine allthese qualities in the device herein described.

Fig. l in the drawings hereto attached shows the frame of the machine;and a is the bevel- Wheel shaft, on one end of which I fasten anadjustable collar, C, with a groove, g. In this groove I fit theshifting-fork f, and in this fork the short crank d is fitted. The shaftof this crank extends up through the standard s, and on the top of thiscrank-shaft a short handle, h, is affixed. Thus by taking hold of thesaid handle and turning the crank half of one revolution the gear willbe moved twice the length of the crank. This arrangement gives a greatleverage in a very small space, and therefore works very easily. Theshiftingfork j should be arranged with respect to the revolution ofcollar c, so that the rotation of the collar while at work will tend tokeep the machine into gear, and when thrown out of gear the same causewill keep it out of gear. Therefore by the aid of this device themachine will hold itself into gear or hold itself out of gear, requiringnone of the unreliable notches or pins usually employed to holdharvesters into or out of gear.

Fig. 2 shows the collar c attached to the shaft.

Fig. 3 shows the shifting-fork detached. To prevent the short prong ofthe shifting-fork being pressed against the bottom of groove g andcausing unnecessary friction, lugs may be so arranged as to prevent thehandle making more than half a revolution in either direction, asclearly seen at Z Z in Fig. l.

Having thus fully described my improvement, what I claim therein as new,and which I desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The combination of the shifting-fork f, short crank d, and handle 7L, ortheir equivalents, for throwing the machine out of or into gear, whenconstructed and arranged substantially as and for the purposes setforth.

M. G. HUBBARD.

Witnesses HEZEKIAH BRADFORD, W. H. STANsBUFY.

